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A new law that went into effect in Kenya this week makes it legal for a man to marry as many women as he wants. And a leading women’s group is applauding it.

President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the polygamy measure into law on Tuesday, formally recognising what has long been a cultural practice in the nation.

The country’s parliament passed the Bill in March despite protests from female lawmakers, who angrily stormed out of the late-night session at the time.

The Bill initially allowed the first wife the right to veto the husband’s choice of additional spouses. However, the male members of parliament successfully pushed to get that clause dropped.

“Marriage is the voluntary union of a man and a woman whether in a monogamous or polygamous union,” Kenyatta said, in a statement. “The Marriage Act 2014 defines various types of marriages including monogamous, polygamous, customary, Christian, Islamic and Hindu marriages”.

The law legalises polygamous unions but does not provide an official limit on the number of wives a man can have.

The Federation of Women Lawyers, a powerful women’s rights group, applauded aspects of the Bill but criticised others.

Polygamy already is a common fixture among many cultures in Kenya and in some other African countries.

The Bill, the group said, is long overdue because polygamous unions were previously not regarded as equal to regular marriages.

“We are happy with the law because finally all marriages are being treated equally”, said the Executive Director of the nation’s Federation of Women Lawyers, Christine Ochieng.

However, she said, the first wife should have a say in picking her husband’s co-wives.